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15 cm SK C/28
used as coast-defense guns in Denmark |origin=Nazi Germany |type=Naval gun |is_ranged=yes |is_artillery=yes |service=1935–2001 |used_by=Nazi Germany Denmark |wars=Second World War |designer= Rheinmetall |design_date=1930—35 |manufacturer=Rheinmetall |production_date=1935—1943? |number= |variants= |weight= |length= |part_length= |width= |height= |crew= |cartridge=separate-loading, cased charge |cartridge_weight= |caliber= |action= |rate=8 rpm (maximum) |velocity= |range= |max_range= at 40° |feed= |sights= |breech=semi-automatic, vertical sliding block |recoil= |carriage= |elevation=depends on the mount |traverse=depends on the mount }} The '15 cm SK C/28'SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon); C - Construktionsjahr (year of design) was a German, medium-caliber, naval gun used during the Second World War. It served as the secondary armament for the and s, s and the s. A number of surplus weapons were used as coast-defense guns and eight were adapted to use Army carriages and used as heavy field guns as the 15 cm Schiffskanone C/28 in Mörserlafette Description This gun was designed as a smaller and lighter version of the 15 cm SK C/25 guns used as the main armament of the - and s. It shared the earlier gun's design with a loose barrel, jacket and breech-piece with a vertical sliding breech block.Campbell, p. 241 Naval mountings The Drh. LC/34 twin-gun mount was the most common mount for the gun in the Kriegsmarine. It was used as the secondary armament of the and s and was planned to equip the proposed H-class battleships. The mount weighed between , depending on its armor thickness; the Scharnhorst's mounts had between of armor while the Bismarck's had . Maximum elevation was 40°, giving a range of and maximum depression was -10°, while maximum elevating speed was 8° per second. Each mount was designed for full 360° of traverse, but was limited to much less than that by the ship's superstructure. Speed in train was a maximum of 9° per second. The fastest firing cycle was 7.5 seconds, or 8 rounds per minute. Ammunition was supplied by twin hoists between the guns, at the rear of the mount. The was intended to use a lighter version of this mount with thinner armor that only weighed approximately . This may have designated as the Drh. LC/40, but development ceased when the ships were canceled in 1939. and also carried four single MPL C/35 mounts that weighed with armor between thick. Each mount could depress -10° and elevate to 35°; this gave a maximum range of . The MPL C/28 mount used in the s was virtually identical to the newer mount except its gun shield was smaller so it weighed only . The s were going to carry eight twin-gun Dopp MPL C/36 casemate mountings. These weighed and had an armored shield thick. The mount elevated at a speed of 6° per second and trained at a rate of 8° per second./ Coast defense mountings The Küsten-Marinepivotlafette (Küst. MPL C/36) was a highly successful mobile coast defense mount fitted with a gun shield. The gun traversed on a six-legged firing platform that allowed 360° of traverse. It could depress -7° and elevate to a maximum of 47° 30', which gave it a range of . The gun on its carriage weighed . It was towed via two two-axle trailers, one at each end. For travel the four lateral legs of the platform folded vertically. It entered service in 1940.Gander and Chamberlain, p. 265 Army mount Production of carriages for the 21 cm Mörser 18 and the 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette exceeded the available number of barrels in 1941 and eight SK C/28 barrels were adapted for use on the carriages as the 15 cm Schiffskanone C/28 in Mörserlafette. They were converted to Heer-standard percussion firing. Most guns were replaced by barrels as they became available, but one battery retained them through the beginning of the Battle of Kursk in July 1943.Niehorster, Leo W. G. German World War II Organizational Series, Vol. 5/II: Mechanized GHQ units and Waffen-SS Formations (4 July 1943), 2005, p. 41 Ammunition The SK C/28 used several different shells depending on its target. The 15 cm Sprgr L/4.6 KZ m Hb weighed and had a muzzle velocity of . It was a nose-fused HE shell with ballistic cap with two copper driving band and a lead ring behind them to act as a decoppering device by scraping away any copper residue from the driving band. The 15 cm Sprgr L/4.5 Bd Z m. Hb was a base-fused shell with a ballistic cap and weighed . It was roughly equivalent to the British "Common Pointed" and also used a lead decoppering ring. The armor-piercing 15 cm Pzgr L/3.8 m Hb shell had a ballistic cap and weighed . All shells used of propellant in an artificial silk bag, housed in a brass cartridge case.Hogg, p. 228 An illumination shell was also available, although details are unknown./ History Surplus naval mountings were used to reinforce German coast defenses from Norway to the French Atlantic coast. These included guns from incomplete or disarmed ships like the aircraft carrier or the battleship . For example, three or four of the Graf Zeppelin s Dopp MPL C/36 mounts equipped both batteries of Naval Artillery Battalion (Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung) 517 at Cap Romanov near Petsamo, Finland Rolf, p. 267 while two of the Gneisenau s Drh. LC/34 mounts were emplaced on the west coast of Denmark at Esbjerg where they equipped Batterie Gneisenau of Naval Artillery Battalion 518.Rolf, p. 296 All told, a total of 111 SK C/28 guns were employed on coast defense duties in a variety of mounts, 28 in Norway, 12 in Denmark, 24 in the German Bight, 8 in the Netherlands, and 39 in Belgium and the Atlantic coast of France.Rolf, p. 387 Surviving guns in Norway and Denmark were used throughout the Cold War by both countries. See also * List of naval guns Footnotes ;Notes ;Citations References * * * * * External links * SK C/28 on navweaps.com * history of the guns at Langesland fortress, Denmark * history of the guns at Stevnsfort, Denmark Category:150 mm artillery Category:World War II artillery of Germany Category:Naval guns of Germany Category:World War II naval weapons Category:Coastal artillery